2018–19 Israeli Premier League
The 2018–19 Israeli Premier League, also known as Ligat Japanika for sponsorship reasons, was the twentieth season since its introduction in 1999 and the 77th season of top-tier football in Israel. The season began on 25 August 2018 and concluded on 25 May 2019. Hapoel Be'er Sheva were the defending champions.
Teams
A total of fourteen teams were competing in the league, including twelve sides from the 2017–18 season and two promoted teams from the 2017–18 Liga Leumit.Hapoel Akko and Hapoel Ashkelon were relegated to the 2018–19 Liga Leumit after finishing the 2017–18 Israeli Premier League in the bottom two places.
Hapoel Tel Aviv were promoted as the winners of the 2017–18 Liga Leumit. This ends the team's one-year absence from the top division.
Hapoel Hadera were promoted as the Runner-ups of the 2017–18 Liga Leumit. This marked the return of Hadera to the top division after 39 years of absence.
Stadiums and locations
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Beitar Jerusalem | Jerusalem | Teddy Stadium | |
| Bnei Sakhnin | Sakhnin | Doha Stadium | |
| Bnei Yehuda | Tel Aviv | HaMoshava Stadium, Petah Tikva | |
| F.C. Ashdod | Ashdod | Yud-Alef Stadium | |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | Be'er Sheva | Turner Stadium | |
| Hapoel Hadera | Hadera | Netanya Stadium, Netanya | |
| Hapoel Haifa | Haifa | Sammy Ofer Stadium | |
| Hapoel Ra'anana | Ra'anana | Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan | |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | Tel Aviv | HaMoshava Stadium, Petah Tikva | |
| Ironi Kiryat Shmona | Kiryat Shmona | Kiryat Shmona Stadium | |
| Maccabi Haifa | Haifa | Sammy Ofer Stadium | |
| Maccabi Netanya | Netanya | Netanya Stadium | |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | Petah Tikva | HaMoshava Stadium | |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | Tel Aviv | Netanya Stadium, Netanya |
| HaMoshava Stadium | Netanya Stadium | Sammy Ofer Stadium |
| Bnei Yehuda Hapoel Tel Aviv Maccabi Petah Tikva | Hapoel Hadera Maccabi Netanya Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Haifa Maccabi Haifa |
| Doha Stadium | Kiryat Shmona Stadium | Ramat Gan Stadium |
| Bnei Sakhnin | Ironi Kiryat Shmona | Hapoel Ra'anana |
| Teddy Stadium | Turner Stadium | Yud-Alef Stadium |
| Beitar Jerusalem | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | F.C. Ashdod |
Personnel and sponsorship
Foreign players
The number of foreign players were restricted to six per team, while only five could have been registered to a game.| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Player 6 |
| Beitar Jerusalem |  Antoine Conte | Ange-Freddy Plumain |  Anthony Annan |  Afonso Taira |  Mihai Voduț | |
| Bnei Sakhnin |  Alban Pnishi |  George Akpabio | Shuaibu Ibrahim |  Emmanuel Mbola | ||
| Bnei Yehuda |  Ismaila Soro |  Emilijus Zubas |  Mavis Tchibota |  Fejsal Mulić |  Jakub Sylvestr |  Carlos Cuéllar |
| F.C. Ashdod |  Issoumaila Lingane | Romain Habran | Johan Martial | Leonard Owusu |  Seybou Koita | Filip Knežević |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | Kevin Tapoko |  Nigel Hasselbaink | John Ogu | Miguel Vítor | Erik Sabo | |
| Hapoel Haifa | Ernestas Šetkus |  Radu Gînsari |  Risto Mitrevski | Gabriel Tamaș |  Rasmus Sjöstedt | |
| Hapoel Hadera |  Lúcio |  Nathan Oduwa | Austin Ejide | David Mateos |  George Fochive | |
| Ironi Kiryat Shmona |  Valon Ahmedi | Marcus Diniz |  Hadji Barry | Džiugas Bartkus | Jorge Morcillo |  Levi Garcia |
| Hapoel Ra'anana |  Ariel Ngueukam |  Mirko Oremuš |  Martin Zeman | Teddy Mézague | Eugene Ansah | |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv |  Marvin Peersman | Caio Alves | Claudemir | Emmanuel Boateng | Nerijus Valskis | |
| Maccabi Haifa | Allyson | Ernest Mabouka | Georges Mandjeck |  Manuel Iturra | Etiënne Reijnen |  Kerim Frei |
| Maccabi Netanya | Jahmir Hyka | Branko Vrgoč |  Tim Heubach |  Fatos Bećiraj | Ali Mohamed | |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | Tomáš Sivok | Franck-Yves Bambock | Kpehi Didier Brossou |  Armando Cooper |  Issa Cissokho |  Anton Bratkov |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | Chikeluba Ofoedu | Jair Amador | Uroš Nikolić | Predrag Rajković | Enric Saborit |
In bold: Players that have been capped for their national team.
Managerial changes
Regular season
Regular season table
Regular season results
Source:Positions by round
Championship round
Key numbers for pairing determinationDue to 3 teams that play in the Netanya stadium qualifying to this round, and in order to insure that all the last games of this round, can be played in the same time, the order of the games, has been changed. Affecting fixtures 33,35 and 36.
Championship round table
| 2018–19 Israeli Premier League champions |
Maccabi Tel Aviv 22nd title |